Russia’s security service, the FSB, has devised a confidential plan that outlines different methods to destabilize Moldova, including providing support to pro-Russian groups, using the Orthodox Church, and threatening to cut off the country’s natural gas supplies, CNN reports.
The plan’s primary objective is to prevent Moldova from getting closer to the West, which involves strengthening its relationship with NATO and seeking European Union membership. The FSB’s Directorate for Cross-Border Cooperation developed the ten-year strategy to draw Moldova, a former Soviet republic situated between Romania and Ukraine, into Russia’s sphere of influence.
The document, titled “Strategic objectives of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Moldova,” was obtained by a consortium of media outlets that included RISE Moldova, VSquare and Frontstory, Expressen in Sweden, the Dossier Centre for Investigative Journalism, Yahoo News, and Delfi.
CNN has viewed the full document. The plan contains headings that provide short-, medium-, and long-term goals, such as making Moldova reliant on Russian gas imports, inciting social conflicts, and disrupting Moldova’s efforts to gain influence in the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria.
The Kremlin has denied the existence of such a plan, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stating that Russia is open to building a mutually beneficial relationship with Moldova.
Asked about the document last Thursday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “We know nothing of the existence of such a plan. I do not rule out that this is another fake. Russia has always been and remains open to building good-neighborly, mutually beneficial relations, including with Moldova.”
Peskov added: “We are very sorry that the current leadership of Moldova is experiencing completely unjustified and unfounded prejudices against Moscow.”
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The current Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, replaced Igor Dodon, who was close to the Kremlin, in late 2020. The pro-Western PAS party won parliamentary elections the following year.
The pro-Russian Shor party has organized weekly demonstrations this year in the capital Chisinau, drawing several thousand people to protests about high energy prices. The party has organized transport for attendees.
The party is led by Ilan Shor, a businessman with links to Russia who is accused of stealing billions of dollars from Moldovan banks in 2014. He was later convicted of fraud but has denied any wrongdoing.
The US Treasury Department sanctioned Shor, his wife, and the party in October 2022, saying that, “Shor worked with Russian individuals to create a political alliance to control Moldova’s parliament, which would then support several pieces of legislation in the interests of the Russian Federation.”